The Choices We Make
by MystilogicalFaerie
Summary: The Choices We Make follows two groups of friends as they try to make the best of their days attending Mi'hen High school in Spira. In high school, you'll either be popular and remembered by everyone, be a wallflower, or spend your time making memories with the most important aspect of school- your friends.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello there! :) First off, I will start by stating that this story had previously been on here with the title 'Mi'hen High', but I stopped having inspiration for it and eventually abandoned it for some years. However, I picked it up again and changed it up! I hated the name, so I changed it and did some heavy editing on the story (I can't _believe_ some of the corny-cringey-amateurness of my writing back then!). So without further audieu, here is The Choices We Make. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my story.

I.

"Oh, come on! 500 gil is a bit too much, don't ya think?"

The middle aged peddler narrowed his eyes at the exasperated high school student and made a gesture with his hands. "A man's got to eat, too."

"But it's highway robbery!"

"I don't see any highways around here."

The young man let out an annoyed, defeated sigh and clutched the strap of his messenger bag, deciding to give up for today. "This ain't over, ya."

"Hey, how's it going, coach?"

The boy jumped slightly at the hand on his shoulder and sudden voice from behind him.

"Ey, Tidus! Aren't you lookin' just so bright eyed today, huh?" he replied, snagging the other boy in a headlock.

"Cut it out!" Tidus laughed.

The two best friends wrestled a little until the peddler spoke up in an irritated tone of voice.

"If you want to play around, you'd best do it somewhere else, eh? You're in the way of me business."

"Chill out, O'aka. Wakka and I were just leaving," the blond said after regaining his composure.

"No need to get your bloomers in a bunch, ya," the orange haired boy snickered. Tidus joined him in his laugh while the peddler's face quickly transformed into the look of a tomato.

"Geez, how noisy."

A voluptuous, raven haired girl stood with an amused look on her face, her two friends close behind.

"Yeah! Don't you two know how to start the new school year off _quietly_?"

One of the girls came up next to the first, her small hands balled into fists as she scolded the boys. Her blond hair bounced with her every movement; she would've been wearing her usual tight clothing, but as of then, the school decided on finally doing uniforms for the new year.

"Rikku, they weren't that loud..." the last girl said, with a small chuckle.

Instantly, Tidus' eyes went to her, the gorgeous girl with the milk chocolate brown hair and amazing bi colored eyes. He took her in, already coming to the conclusion that she looked unsurprisingly pretty even in the uniforms.

"Hey, Yuna," he grinned, paying the feisty Al Bhed girl's rants no mind.

"Good morning," Yuna replied, a warm blush coming to her cheeks as she gave him a small smile back.

The first girl spoke up again, her words directed at the suddenly wearing looking peddler.

"O'aka..why are you trying to sell your goods to high school students again?"

"Yeah, you tell em', Lu!" Wakka piped.

" And you're just as guilty for trying to buy from him."

"Yeah, well..."

"So!" Rikku chimed. "Who's ready for the first day of school for us sophomores?"

Collective groans came from everyone, even some random kids who were just nearby.

"Yeesh, don't trample anyone to get inside in the midst of your overwhelming excitement," she muttered, although even she herself wasn't looking all that forward to the aspect of classes again.

But then she remembered why she was anxious for the year to start earlier. "But- but, hey! Hey, I heard we're gonna get a horde of transfer students!"

"A horde? That doesn't sound very accurate." Lulu's eyebrow rose skeptically as she waited for Rikku to continue.

"From where? Did anyone say?" Tidus asked, now a bit curious himself.

"It's a rumor, so where they're coming from is a mystery, duh."

"Oh, well then..."

Yuna giggled and gently tugged on Rikku's sleeve. "Then how do you even know if they're really transferring or not?"

The energetic blond spun around to face her cousin, her green eyes instantly brightened up again. "Because! I know that much at least is for sure!"

"Well, let's just hope we don't get any jerks, ya. Too many of them around here as it is.." Wakka put in, trailing off as he eyed a former member of his blitzball team walking by.

Nix, the first transfer student they had gotten their freshman year, smirked at Wakka and his group, his arm around a painfully clueless girl.

"Arrogant bastard," Wakka growled under his breath.

Lulu glanced between the two and consider her words before asking, "You two are still at odds with each other? I thought that was resolved."

"Yeah, it probably would've been if he hadn't-"

He was cut off by the teacher of the fashion class, Leblanc Syndicate, suddenly popping up and purring, "Girls, you should get moving. I don't want you to be late for my class. I'll be giving out various assignments that could really help you out in the future; it is a new year, after all."

She whipped out her personal fan and fanned her face as the mature Lulu answered, "Of course, Ms. Syndicate. We won't be tardy."

"Good girl." Before she sashayed herself into the building, she threw Tidus a look and gave him a seductive smile that made Yuna's gut clench in a conflicting emotion that wasn't new to her concerning Tidus.

"We should go," she huffed, grabbing Rikku and Lulu by the arms; Wakka and Tidus watched her march all of them inside. With a shrug, Tidus began following, with his friend right behind.

Nix Gremer impatiently tapped his mechanical pencil on his desk, waiting for the teacher to "hurry up and shut up". Of course, like everyone else in Mi'hen High, he heard about the new transfer students, but from his first hand information, he knew that it wasn't just a rumor.

' _Hot girls. There's always hot girls._ ' he smiled to himself as he used his arm to support his head. There would definitely be at least one new kid in his class, and he was anxious for them to come in. What a dumb rule; new students had to wait out in the hall until the teacher was done giving the short morning lecture. Although on this particular day, it seemed to go on forever.

Nix let out an irritated sigh and glanced around the classroom once. He spied Yuna Tollipher, the innocent, goody-two-shoes but overall, quite attractive. He also knew that the popular bonehead jock, Tidus had a hard on for her. He smirked, then upon seeing the sexy, dark Lulu Hanes a couple seats away, broadened his smile whilst fixating his eyes on her well endowed chest.

With an abrupt slam on his desk, Mr. Logos got everyone's attention again and with his small, slitted eyes, surveyed the room to make sure.

"Now. Meet the new students," he said, in his usual unenthusiastic not-caring voice.

The pale haired young boy clutched his friend's hand tightly as they entered the classroom that he suspected was for World History. _Ugh_ , was his first thought when he saw the teacher for the first time. Clad in dark blue robes and weird head wraps, he knew those slitted eyes were on the two of them. His grip tightened considerably.

"Ow! Stop squeezing my hand so hard!" The girl with him hissed under her breath. Her hair was also a pale blond, just like his. "You act like you're afraid of me getting lost."

The boy looked at her over his shoulder. "You might."

The girl scowled at him but managed to quickly erase it and put on a small smile as they stood in front of a full classroom.

"Class, Penelo and Vaan; Vaan and Penelo, class. Your seats," Mr. Logos said coldly, then motioned to the two empty desks in the middle of the room.

The girl gave a short nod to him and somehow managed to free her hand from her companion's; she rushed over to a seat and gave the boy a look as he sat himself behind her.

Throughout the entire class, he couldn't help but feel immensely jealous and protective as he knew all male eyes were on his friend, Penelo Sundries.

Her chest had gotten bigger as of late, and for sure, that's where all of the attention from other guys was directed. He hated that.  
Penelo felt her friend's heated gaze on the back of her head. Vaan Ratsbane, the overprotective kid from her old neighborhood. They had quite a history together that dated back to when they were six years old.

' _Must he stare at me like that?'_ she grumbled in her mind.

Ever since their legal guardian, (sort of) Migelo had decided to close down his shop due to his want to suddenly need to retire, he had shipped Penelo and Vaan off so they could get a high school education. There wasn't much hope for them back in their hometown; Migelo had thought it a very good idea to send the two to Spira, the huge continent that was actually very far from where they lived.

Penelo reminisced about how childish Vaan had acted when Migelo told them the news.

 _ **"Spira!? Where the heck's that? And why? I thought we were doing just fine here!" he'd shouted.  
The blue adult bangaa merely scratched his chin and huffed at Vaan in his scratchy voice, "I'm too weary with age to keep my shop open any longer. Ah yes, retirement sounds quite appealing right now." Then he shot the boy a knowing look. "Vaan m'boy, it's about time you got out to see the world- and around Ivalice doesn't count."**_

 _ **"But Migelo," Penelo started. All at once, she seemed to consider her words and after a minute, said instead, "I'll make sure to keep Vaan on his toes."  
Vaan had just stared at the both of them, an expression of disbelief clearly on his face. Without even so much as another word, he huffed and stormed out of the shop.**_

 _ **Migelo turned to the girl and said, "I expect you to keep him in check, Penelo; there wont be anyone else around to do it. Also, make sure to keep both of you out of trouble."**_

 _ **"You bet."**_

Thinking back on it now, Penelo had to wonder why Vaan had been so upset, but he ended up telling her later on.

A tap on the shoulder made Penelo turn to the side to see a girl with glossy, brown hair and surprising mismatched eyes smiling at her. She was quite the looker, and Penelo found herself feeling slightly intimidated.

"I thought you could use this," the girl whispered, sliding a mechanical pencil onto her desk. Penelo raised her eyebrows, realizing she hadn't even had a plain pencil to begin with. "Thanks," she whispered back, grateful.

Then she settled into her seat more comfortably. Only less than an hour and someone'd already had the common courtesy to offer her a pencil, unlike most of the rude, manner-less kids from home. She felt content, as if the rest of her school life was going to go smoothly.

Meanwhile, in Math...

The ever hyper Rikku Celsius fidgeted in her seat next to the window.

The transfer students had already come in, and she was so excited! Just looking at them filled her little body with an anxiety to quickly get to know them.

The girl seated close to the door was so elegant and mature looking, Rikku believed she even topped Lulu. With dark, cocoa skin and pure white hair, she was obviously foreign; there was no one with looks like that in Spira! She was really tall, taller than all of the boys who went to their school. Rikku was undoubtedly curious, and completely ready to make friends with her.

The lengthy girl shifted uncomfortably at her small desk; At least it seemed very small to her, considering her long body. Trying to mask her discomfort, she tugged at the dark blue denim hat she was wearing and pinched the fabric of her black leggings. (Luckily, the school allowed her to wear them.)

She glanced over at the one she'd come in with; the red haired young man who of course, was good friends with her. Very, very good friends.

Fran Valentina and her possible friend with benefits Baltheir Strahl, sat across from each other. He was a seat or two away, but secretly, she wanted to be closer.

The stares from the other students in the classroom made her a little nervous, and a couple times out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a blond girl oddly squirming in her seat.

She was aware of the looks she was getting from her, along with everyone else.

' _Honestly, do they really have to be so rude?'_ she thought to herself with a small frown.

Across from her, Baltheir simply smirked at all the attention he was getting so soon. He'd noticed the collective-albeit over dramatic-gasps from the females when they'd first entered the room. He gloated on the pride that-in his mind-the girls would be swarming all over him the instant class ended. Why not? He was quite attractive; handsome, charming, and witty. But even though he thought like that, he and Fran were already a couple, as far as he was concerned. And they had been like that for years now. Why else would the young woman decide to leave her home behind and follow him to somewhere new? It could've just been purely out of curiosity and excitement at the prospect of a new adventure, but he prided himself on the thought that in the moment when he suggested leaving to her, she had gladly accepted because she couldn't live without him. It was basically the other way around, though.

 _"_ _ **Say, Fran. How about we just up and travel somewhere else? I say blast the damn school and my mother, with her incessant nagging and prying."**_

 _ **The ever calm and collected girl gave a small smile and said, plainly, "Of course. Where to?"**_

 _ **They had been in Fran's apartment, the one she rented when her single mother had kicked her out. She was always depressed anyway, and her moods were just too much for Fran to handle. So she was quite glad when she had forced her out.**_

 _ **Fran walked over to where Baltheir was reclined on her couch and sat down on the small coffee table in front of him. He quickly whipped out a map and displayed it to her, pointing at a marked spot on it.**_

 _ **"I was thinking here. It's a little place called Spira. I looked it up on the internet, and it seems nice enough. Take a hell of a lot of gas to get there, but maybe we can find another way around such ridiculous costs."**_

 _"_ _ **Sounds like a plan."**_

 _ **Baltheir smiled back and took her elegant hand in his. He kissed it gently and murmured, "Why are you so willing? Is it just for my sake...?"**_

 _ **The girl simply smiled at him again and rose up, leaving him there with his thoughts.**_

In the English Lit. Class...

Tidus continued to pass notes back and forth between his buddies, Jassu Holmes and Botta Kaprinskey.  
The last one was from Jassu: _Did you see her, did you see her?!_

In his somewhat sloppy handwriting, Tidus wrote back. _Yeah, cause last time I checked, I wasn't blind._

The next came from Botta's side, halfway across the room from Tidus and Jassu. It was a miracle they had managed to keep sending notes back and forth without being caught.  
 _Man, she's hot! Think I got a chance?_

Tidus contained his snicker like an expert. He wasn't trying to be mean, certainly not. But with someone as good looking as the new girl, he didn't think poor ol' Botta even had the slightest of chances.

Although, he had to admit, even he found himself attracted to the girl and though he had a crush on a certain other person, he didn't deny himself the harmless pleasure of ogling her for a while. He watched her short, almost shoulder length, tumbleweed brown hair blow slightly from the cool outside breezes coming in, admiring her back..

 _Yeah, man! Don't be too quick though, cause then she might get freaked out with you in her face._

Tidus heard the disbelieving snort from Botta as he read his reply, and after that, they discontinued their little chat for the time being.

Ashe D'nar sat rigidly; the cool steel of the desk chairs were freezing against her bare thighs. She wished she'd worn jeans instead of the tight fitting fuchsia skirt and long sleeves instead of her white tank top. The breeze coming from the open window was no joke.

She sighed, thinking about her older friend, Basch Burgronsen and how he'd somehow ended up in another class; a pity it was that they couldn't be together like she suspected the rest of her friends luckily might be.

Glancing up, she sighed again, only on the inside and much heavier. The teacher was _so_ boring! At least her old ones had been a bit interesting, especially her History teacher. He always had pep in his voice when talking about Ivalice's histories; her favorite subject, of course.

But the teacher she had now... _Why me!?_ she couldn't help think.  
She spied the nameplate on her desk: Mrs. Belgemine.

Ashe thought nicely of her name, just not her personality. And throughout the rest of the math class, she wondered if Mrs. Belgemine could be a wild partier outside of school.

Memories of her father popped up in her mind, and she remembered with an ache in her heart about the true reason she'd never wanted to leave her home in Archadia.

 _"_ _ **Rasler," a heavy breathing Ashe had moaned out. Her boyfriend's lips continued their slow and amazingly wonderful journey down her neck, when suddenly the front door of her house burst open. There stood her father, face red and fists clenched as he took in the scene of his daughter under some**_ _ **boy**_ _ **from down the street! He flew over to the two and yanked the boy, Rasler Venar off and tossed him aside.**_

 _ **"That is the last straw, Ashelia," Ashe's dad huffed, with a pointed finger at his precious teenage daughter. "No more Archadia High, no more little boy-" he turned to sneer the last part at Rasler, who was currently rubbing the back of his head from where it'd been hit upon contact with the wall. "and no more acting out of line! I'm sending you off to somewhere where you'll be able to improve your behavior and make new friends. And just to be sure, I'll include your friend, that nice Basch fellow, to accompany you. That should keep you out of trouble."**_

 _ **The whole time, Ashe had been half sitting, half still lying there on the couch, eyes wide and mouth half open in surprise. "What-" she started, but her father had already stormed upstairs.**_

Thinking about the whole thing again made Ashe's fists clench and her lip curl instinctively. She didn't mind Basch going with her; she liked him, in fact. Not like that...! But the way her dad had treated Rasler so roughly, and in her mind, she knew full well that he didn't deserve that.

She still couldn't figure out how her father had known she and Rasler were in the house at that exact time. Her father wasn't supposed to get off work for another three hours...

But all was in the past now. Though she still kept bitterness and resentment in her heart, there wasn't anything she could do about it...at the time.

A/N: Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I just want to apologize for all my paragraphs being all up on each other and no line breaks. I keep putting them in there but then I save my changes and fanfic instantly reverts them back. SO frustrating! Anyways, enjoy! :)

II.

"Okay now, my budding flowers spuds! Bmayca naleda dra vencd bynyknybr eh ouin vehacd Ym Prat!" (Please recite the first paragraph in your finest Al Bhed!)

Vaan couldn't help but cock his head at the teacher's saying. He frowned, scribbled a note in his journal, and tossed it at the back of Penelo's head. It made a 'thump' and fell at her feet. He could tell from her instantly rigid shoulders that she was already annoyed; very slowly she reached down and swiped up the note while the teacher was distracted.

 _What the hell is she saying!?_ ' it read. Penelo sighed, slightly exasperated. His stupidity didn't even deserve an answer. He'd ever so eagerly signed up for the optional language class with her, and now it was clear to her that he didn't even know what is was. _'What an idiot'._  
Deciding it would be best to learn the language of the locals, Penelo picked that one: the _Al Bhed Language Arts_ _._

But even she herself didn't know what the _hell_ that teacher was spouting.

Rikku bounced up excitedly when her favorite teacher in the entire school asked for a volunteer. "Ooh, ooh! Mr. Rin! Pick meeee!" Without so much as a word to her, the Al Bhed man gave her a stern, knowing look and she uttered the right words.

"Ahaha... I mean, Sn. Rin, bmayca lruuca sa du pa ouin jumihdaan... lyica E jumihdaan yc dnepida!" (Mr. Rin, please choose me to be your volunteer.. Because I volunteer as tribute!)

A tight smile came across Mr. Rin's face as he made a gesture and allowed Rikku to come in front of the class to demonstrate. Since she had long ago noticed two incredibly unfamiliar faces, while she was up, she made sure to put on a great show for them. Maybe they would like her more quickly if they saw how super cool and awesome she was.

The cafeteria was completely and utterly bustling today. From the popular side came the sneers at the not-so-popular side and on that end, was the best group of friends. Yuna sat in between Lulu and Paine, the girl with the tough-girl exterior; only a few girls in the group knew that there was something softer under that, though. With Tidus, Wakka and Gippal on the opposite side of them, Rikku momentarily felt bothered until she plopped down in Gippal's lap with a triumphant smile.

"R-Rikku!" he yelped.

Yuna and Lulu couldn't contain their giggles as Rikku shrugged her shoulders and feigned ignorance.

"What? I'm just sitting down." she smiled coyly and added, "Can't a girl eat her lunch in peace?"

"Ah, Let'c kenm, cdub paehk cilr y vmend.." he muttered, scratching the back of his head. (Cid's girl, stop being such a flirt..)

"Don't call me that!"

"Aw, look at the lovebirds, ya!" Wakka teased.

Rikku and Gippal's cheeks flushed simultaneously as everyone at the table laughed.

Every now and then, Tidus would stop eating and look up; he sat across from Yuna, who was picking at her tuna sandwich, her mind obviously off running errands on another planet. Paine of course, noticed him glancing at her and smirked. Then she announced loudly, "Hey Yuna, Tidus can't stop checking you out!"

With a startled gasp, Yuna's eyes instantly went to the blond jock, but he was now suspiciously staring at his banana like it was the most _interesting_ thing in the world. "You shouldn't tease them like that," Lulu scolded, but she was smiling just like everyone else.

"Oh!" Rikku exclaimed. "I can't believe I even forgot for a second! The transfers; did you guys meet any of em'?"

"There were a couple in my class," came a voice. Everyone's heads went to stare at Nix, who was standing there with a tray in his hands and that same smug look he had on earlier. "And one had really big tits; but nothing compared to Lulu over there."

"Excuse me, but no one asked you!" Rikku snapped, just as Wakka jumped to his feet.

"Hey man, get outta here, will ya?" He managed kept his voice low and steady, although everything in him begged for him to just yell his battle cry and beat Nix's face into a bloody mess.

"Yeah, Nix. No one asked you to butt in," Tidus added.

"So why don't you go away before I have to make you?" Paine put in menacingly.

"Scram!" Rikku finished. Nix shrugged his shoulders and surprisingly, left quietly.

"Thank you guys for defending my honor," Lulu chuckled. "All of the extra wasn't necessary, but thanks anyways."

Wakka sat down, relieved. "Anytime, Lu."

"Well, even though Nix Gremer is a big fat jerk, I still want to know about the transfers," Rikku said.

"I was in the same class as Nix, so I think I know who he's talking about," Yuna spoke.

And, as if on cue, the two people who had been in the same class as Yuna strolled into the cafeteria, their own group reunited.  
Fran at this point, had grown weary of the people trying to touch her hair and asking if it was real, and if not, 'where did you buy it from!?'. The boys also would not stop trying to hit on her. Before, it was a trite flattering, but it had quickly grown old and bothersome. They were all like little gnats buzzing around her.

Noticing her irritation, Baltheir lightly tapped her arm and smiled up at her, "Don't worry, Fran. They just think you're one cool lady, is all," he chuckled. Vaan, who was in the front with Penelo sniggered.

"Yeah right. They're all just a bunch of pervs who can't keep their hands off such an 'exotic beauty'. That's what they'd call her down here, right? 'exotic'?"

"Ugh! You really know how to make a person feel better, don't you," Penelo snapped. She would've smacked him in the back of his head, but another person beat her to it.

"Ow- hey!"

Ashelia walked alongside the two with Basch, her hand all ready to hit Vaan again, if necessary.

"My pleasure," she returned, with a smile at Penelo.

Basch gently touched Ashe's hand, asking. "Would you like me to get your food?"

"Oh," she smiled warmly, "No, thank you. I think I can manage."

Basch's short, sandy blond hair was the thing she liked most about him; made him look more mature. He'd shaved his face not long ago, and it looked quite excellent, in her eyes.

"Very well," he said, returning her smile.

"Get a room, will you?"  
Everyone groaned with annoyance at Vaan, but this time, they all got the chance to smack him upside the head, even Fran.

They sat at a table not too far away from another jovial looking group. "It's kinda weird that everyone's stared at us, but no one's tried to strike up a conversation," Vaan remarked.

"It's like they're afraid of us or something," Penelo sighed.

"Not that I'm complaining," Baltheir added, under his breath. He was secretly glad nobody had tried to talk to Fran yet; he knew he'd become jealous. Hell, he was already pretty jealous, what with all the male attention she was receiving. In Ivalice, the Viera were common, even though you'd usually see more Bangaa, Seeq, Humes and Moogles than you did the lagomorphic race of people.

Fran couldn't help but heave a sigh. She sort of wished someone outside of their group would actually try to talk to her as a person, not as some uncommon wonder. She felt out of place there in Spira so far.. At least the humes in Ivalice had the common decency not to stare and poke and prod.

Tidus spied the girl he had been looking at in his class sitting with a bunch more people. Gippal noticed and followed to where he was looking.

"Hey, she's a hottie," he whistled.

"What? Who? ME?" Rikku tried to crane her neck to see what they were, but to no avail. "Argh! Gippaaaaaal! You can't say that about some other girl while I'm sitting in your lap!" she wailed.

"Ey, they must be those transfers, ya?" Wakka pointed at their table.

"Should we try to go make friends?" Lulu asked, ready to get up. It could be nice to meet someone else outside of their original group.

"They'd think we're too eager to meet them, wouldn't they?" Paine said. "Maybe we should just leave them alone for now. I know I wouldn't want anyone invading my space like that."

"But that's just you," Yuna smiled. "I don't know; I would usually say, 'maybe they could use a friend', but it looks like they all have plenty..."

Before any one could react, Tidus stood and began to stroll over to the transfer students' table.

"Heya." He flashed his most charming smile, while placing one hand on their table and leaning slightly down. His face was close to the girl he had been classmates with. _'Man, she's much prettier up close'_. The confident jock noticed everyone at the table's heads turn towards him, their expressions sort of resembling awe.

Ashe glanced up at the random boy with the sort of dirty blond hair, startled. She recognized him from her class, or at least she recognized the back of his head and had her memory register it right when she saw his face.

When she didn't greet him back, he somewhat awkwardly continued, "You're the new transfer students, right?"

"Yeah? What's it to you?" a pale haired boy across the table remarked. Even though Tidus wasn't even paying Penelo any attention-yet-Vaan still felt it necessary to be cautious. A sharp jab in his side made him wince in surprise and pain as Penelo piped, smiling, "Yeah, that'd be us."

"Cool.." Tidus said, warily giving Vaan a look, only for a moment taking his eyes off Ashe. "So anyways," he started again,"I just thought I'd- uh, come and get to, uh, know you guys." His cheeks flushed momentarily before twisting around and pointing behind him.  
"Those are my friends over there. You can easily spot them by the big guy with the orange hair." He snickered, referring to Wakka and his loud hair.

Baltheir suddenly spoke up, also slightly cautious of the random boy who came up to them, "Is there some other motive you have by coming over here?"

"No, man." Tidus shot him a hard look, instantly offended. He truly just wanted to know them; there wasn't any hidden motive... maybe. The way the red haired guy talked to him sort of put him off.  
Then finally, Ashe opened her mouth. "Then it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She didn't care much for the boys at this school, but this one was alright so far. Although, Rasler still owned her heart.

Tidus grinned at Ashe and said, "I'm Tidus." The painfully formal way she spoke was a little odd to him, but he didn't let that discourage him.

"Ashe D'nar." At the same moment when she said that, Basch's hand came to protectively rest on her shoulder. She wasted no time introducing the rest of the group. "These are my friends, Basch, Fran, Baltheir, Penelo, and...Vaan."

"Why'd you pause at my name?" Vaan asked with a whine in his voice.

"Because you're like that. You embarrass us all," Penelo lashed out.

Taking on a hurt expression, Vaan lowered his eyes and said nothing else but a simple, "Nice to meet'cha."

Penelo didn't notice his wounded face, and added cheerily, "Thanks for coming over."

"Hello," Fran said with a small smile.  
Baltheir and Basch did not say anything, managing to keep their manly facade. Well, at least Baltheir was.

Tidus ignored the two's lack of conversation and said, "Cool to meet all of you. Listen, there's this little hangout we all go to every Tuesday night; that's when there's a good amount of people, not too many and not too little. It's better on weekdays when it's not swarming with high schoolers. It's called Shiva and Geneva's. You guys should come."

Ashe raised an eyebrow at his invitation and looked back at her friends. "We might. Thanks for inviting us." She gave a small smile that made Tidus' cheeks heat up a bit.

"Alright, sweet. We meet up there at 7:30 after school. I hope I'll see you there," he finished with a charming, pretty boy grin. They watched his retreating form go back to his own table where a giddy blond girl nearly tackled him as soon as he was within range.

"What do you guys think?" Ashelia asked once he was gone. Basch immediately responded, "I don't think it's a very good idea. That place sounds like a nightclub and your father wanted me to keep you out of trouble-"

"We're going," Ashe cut him off, her words sharp as a razor blade.

No one objected, but they were all thinking:

 _Since when did she become the boss?_

"Well, well?! Tell me what happened before I attack you!" Rikku squealed as soon as Tidus was back at their table.

"Nothing much," he replied, all cool and vague as he slid back into his seat.

"Spill iiiiit!"

"Alright, alright," he laughed.

Wakka put in, "You walked over there on such a high horse; I'm surprised those macho looking guys didn't jump you or somethin'."

"I would've," Paine put in.

As Lulu concentrated on peeling the pepperoni off of her pizza, she said, smiling, "Well, Tidus. Do tell of your short excursion." Wakka leaned over and snatched them off her tray as Tidus began.

"Wait, wait," Gippal started. "Before you get into your tale...do ya have a crush on that girly over there?" He grinned.

"What? No, of course not!"

"Uh huh, sure. I believe you, man." Tidus couldn't help but glance at Yuna, whom he noticed was somewhat solemnly picking at the sandwich she still hadn't eaten. The gloomy aura around her was almost visible. Although he felt kind of conflicted, Tidus put her mood off for a while and continued trying to tell his story. "...So I invited them to S and G's."

"Ooh, this is so exciting!" Rikku giggled. By now, she had already taken up her own seat, relieving Gippal. She was just too jittery for him.

"It would be a good way to get to know them, that's for sure," Lulu said as she finished off her apple. In the end, she had just given both slices of pizza to Wakka. It was too greasy anyways.

"Don't you think we're moving too fast?" Paine said, looking around at everyone with her crimson eyes. "I mean, they just transferred here and we already have them coming out with us, a group of strangers."

"Paine! You're so negative today!" Rikku cried. Gippal shook his head.

"I agree with Paine. We didn't even meet em', Tidus did. We could be a group of gangsters for all they know."

"I'd be surprised if they really thought we were gangsters," Tidus laughed. "Well, with Gippal's eye patch and Paine's tough girl look, maybe we kinda do."

"Hey, don't go hatin' on the patch, now," Gippal said, a bit defensively even though he still laughed. Yuna was silent the entire time until Lulu touched her shoulder lightly.

"Hey, Yuna.. are you feeling alright?" she asked softly.

Her reply was almost silent; "No, no, I'm fine." She managed a tiny smile, but as soon as she turned back to her untouched lunch, her eyebrows returned to their furrowed state.  
Tidus had kept his eyes on her for while, just quietly watching. He was, of course worried. But then an emotion came over him; he felt like he didn't have the right to be worried about her now. It was probably because he was so obviously flirting with Ashe.

He thought deeply about this all throughout his last classes. _'Maybe she's feeling down because of what Gippal said..? Damn him, that loud mouth.. But it's mostly my fault, isn't it? I can't control myself.. Wait, what am I talking about; Yuna doesn't like me that way! Of course I-_

His train of thought was interrupted while when coming out of the school's sphere pool- soaked to the bone- he spotted one of the guys from the transfers' table wandering around. The pale haired one, he amazingly remembered, to be Vaan.

"Hey, what're you doin' down here?" Startled, Vaan spun around to face the sopping Tidus.

"I, uh... I was looking for Penelo," he lied. Well, it wasn't a complete lie. Penelo had disappeared from his side while he was distracted with buying them vending machine drinks, but he also had another reason to explore (snoop).

"Hey, uh, what's that thing called that you were doing just now?" he asked. Tidus looked at him funny, like he was looking at the stupidest person in the world. Then he remembered Vaan wasn't from Spira and shook his head.

"Blitzball. It's an official sport with tournaments and all. Kind of like soccer, volleyball and basketball combined, just underwater."

"Ohh, right, right..." Vaan inspected the locker room a little more while Tidus watched him with curious but wary eyes.

"Do you need something?" he asked him as he used the towel around his neck to wipe his face and dry his hair. Vaan looked at him fully, his blue gray eyes searching Tidus' bright blue ones.

"I just wanted to let you know," he took a couple steps closer to him, until he was only a foot or two away, "to stay away from Penelo." The way he said it wasn't mean, but threatening, in a way. Tidus was about to say, ' _Who's Penelo?_ 'But then he quickly remembered; she must be the girl Vaan was sitting next to. ' _The one with the big boobs that rivals Lulu's,_ ' he thought.

"Look, I dunno know why you came all the way down here to say that; I don't have any interest in that girl," he replied coolly as he stripped his shirt off and tossed it in his dirty laundry cubby. His muscles were pretty defined, just enough to show through a t-shirt. Seeing them, Vaan was considerably intimidated; he didn't really have any muscles to brag about.

"Not yet, anyway," Vaan muttered.

"Why do you even care anyways? I know you're friends and all that, but I don't think a simple friend would go out of their way to threaten someone else about someone who's just their friend. What, you got a crush on her?" he asked, a small grin beginning to form. Vaan just stood there, glowering at him. In his perspective, Tidus was just mocking him, looking down on him. With his stupid big muscles, too! The atmosphere in the room had turned dark, and Vaan continued to glare at Tidus.

"What if I do? I bet you just want to get into Ashe's pants anyways. I saw you drooling over her at our table. Admit it, you wanna get her alone and rape-" By the last word, Tidus had advanced on Vaan; he was completely in his face, with their chests almost touching.

"It's not like that, so I'd suggest you shut the hell up now," he growled. Tidus was about half an inch taller than Vaan, so to anyone else, it would've looked like he was ready to hit the shorter boy.

' _Looks like a found a weak spot_ ' _,_ he thought with a barely visible smirk.

"You should get out of here."

"I'm done anyhow." Vaan shoved his hands into his pockets and took a step back. "Remember, though. Ashe is my friend and not so willing to get to know the guys here. She has a boyfriend back at home, after all. I can tell her all sorts of crap about you... Doesn't even have to be true." And with that, he left the locker room.

Yuna pushed away her plate, having barely even touched a thing. "I'm finished," she said quietly as she stood up.  
Her father, Mr. Braska Tollipher looked at her worriedly.

"But you didn't even eat a thing.." He watched her for a moment and then said, "Yuna? Is there something going on at school? You know, you can always come talk to me-"

"I'm alright, really. There's nothing going on at school; everything's fine." She smiled. It was a sad, fake one, but it was enough to fool Braska. "I just ate a lot at lunch today. I'll be good as new tomorrow," she added as she threw out her food, put the plate in the sink, and went upstairs to her room. It wasn't much, just pink and blue walls with a desk, a vanity/dresser cluttered with her things, a twin bed, and a small TV on the edge of her desk.

Yuna plopped down on her bed, feeling miserable. ' _This is all Tidus' fault!'._

Even though she thought that, she knew it wasn't entirely true, if at all. She knew he was definitely interested in that girl;she was really pretty and had that fancy, mature air about her. Yuna was nothing like that.  
She slowly ran her fingers through her hair that was a little longer than her shoulders, imagining Tidus' hands instead of her own. If only she had had the courage to confess to him earlier on, then the other girl wouldn't even pose a threat! Maybe...

Feeling as if there was nothing she could do, she sighed dejectedly. It was clear to her that she'd have to try harder, but the way to go about it.. Be more aggressive?  
"No," she laughed dryly to herself. She couldn't imagine being like _those_ girls at school. Besides, it would mean changing everything about herself, including the way she dressed.

"Well," she started. "If I really like Tidus, I'll try harder!" she declared, attempting to encourage herself.  
Just then, her cell began ringing. It was still in her bag that was now flopped on its side on the floor. She took her precious time to get it, not really in the mood to talk to anyone. The caller ID read: Kaleo, Lenne, the name of Yuna's old friend from another state. They hadn't seen each other in years, but they talked on the phone every weekend.

"Hey Yuna!" came the cheery voice on the other end.

"Lenne! How are you?"

"I'm great... I was just calling to tell you that my aunt invited me to stay with her for a week or more, soooo..."

"So I'm going to get to see you for a whole week!" Yuna finished, ecstatic. "Where are you going to stay?"

"At my aunt's apartment. I've already got it all arranged, so I'll be there in a few days!"

"I haven't seen you in forever! I'm so excited."

Lenne laughed, replying, "I know. Feels like a thousand years or something, right?"

"That's a bit of an exaggeration, but it kinda does feel like that a little."

After ending the call with Lenne, Yuna quickly slipped into her pajamas and dove under the covers of her bed. Talking with Lenne for even that short while had lifted her spirits considerably, and she was able to go to bed with a smile on her face.

A/N: Sorry for the 'thousand years' thing; I just HAD to haha. Anyways, thanks for reading! Constructive criticisms are very much appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

...

Rikku shoveled her breakfast into her mouth like a wild animal while her dad watched silently.

"You've got your mother's appetite," he said after a long minute of silence. A small smile formed on his face as his daughter rolled her eyes.

"Dwad," she whined, her mouth full of cereal. "Doont shay depreshing tings whilsh em trieeng oo eep."

"Hmpf."Cid scratched the back of his bald dome and muttered, "You're sounding just like one o' them damn hypello!"

The now annoyed girl swallowed and scoffed at her dad, making sure to give him one extra eye roll before slinging her bag over her shoulder and rushing out the door.

"Be safe!" he called out just as she slammed the door. He sighed heavily, knowing she didn't hear his warning, but a second later, the door opened again and Rikku stuck her head back in.

With a smile, she said, "It's just school." Then, a little more enthusiastically, she chirped, "See you later!"

Gippal was waiting patiently for Rikku outside, and was wearing a navy blue baseball cap over his spiky blond hair with lightly scuffed, white vans.  
He heard a door slam and grinned as Rikku came bounding down the steps, looking oh, so cheerful.

"Stuffed your face good and well at breakfast, didja?"

With a laugh, she punched him in the arm playfully, but hard.

"Oh, owww!" Gippal yelped, feigning hurt.

"Let's get to school already, you big faker," Rikku giggled, flashing him a bright smile before she suddenly stopped, looking down at Gippal's shoes with an expression of mild disgust.

"Vans are so outdated. And yours are dirty."

"Excuse you, Vans will never be 'outdated', as you say, and these beautiful babies are what one would call, "gently used"," Gippal retorted with a snarky undertone.

"Sure." Rikku rolled her eyes as she began walking ahead. Despite his passé fashion sense, there was something Rikku really liked about the way Gippal was so laid back and nonchalant about everything. She could be all in a tizzy over something, but then he'd respond to her as calm as ever. It was a contrast between the two of them that she had grown so used to. That certain trait of his also made it extremely fun to mess with him and see how much of a reaction she could get.

A little farther behind as Gippal trailed after her, his thoughts were still on her lovely smile, despite her recent insult to his choice of dress. 'If you only knew what you do to me, Rik. If only.'

With a loud clank! the shabby, white window hit the frame, allowing Yuna to temporarily hold it open.

She stuck her head out of the small pane and looked down to the front of her house where two very familiar people stood, arguing about something.  
Smiling, she propped her head up with her arms and listened to them bicker while the chilly early morning air stole the color from her the apples of her cheeks.

"...Rik, if you hit me one more time.." the lanky boy threatened as he shoved his hands in his pleated school uniform slacks.

"What? You gonna make me paaay?" With rainbow colored beads in her hair that bounced around with her braids when she did, Yuna could easily identify the two.

'Of course. They are definitely unmistakable'.

Right before Yuna could call out, Rikku smacked Gippal on the back of his head and danced around him tauntingly.

"Rikku! E cfayn, cusadesac E naymmo lyh'd vnaygehk cdyht oui!" he shouted. "All you ever do-" (I swear, sometimes I really can't freaking stand you!)

"Hey!" Yuna intervened, "Did you two come here to stand in front of my house and argue, or did you come to pick me up?" She grinned.

"To pick you up, of absolute course!" Rikku called back.

"I'll be down in a minute, then." Yuna closed the window and rubbed her flushed, ice like cheeks and made sure to pull her favorite beige chocobo sweater over her uniform.

" You sure took your sweet ol' precious time, huh?" Rikku commented when Yuna came out of her house.

"Oh, stop it," she mock-pouted. "The both of you wasted a lot more time so completely invested in your lover's quarrel than I did coming down."

At this, Gippal's cheeks heated up, but Rikku simply glanced over at him.

"A-anyway, we'll be late if we don't hurry," he muttered.

Yuna gave Rikku a knowing look before prancing off ahead of them, as to say, 'He looooves you.'

"Shut up!" Rikku shouted, chasing after her friend.

"But I didn't say anything," she laughed.

And Gippal... poor Gippal just followed behind.

–-

Tidus slammed his the door to his locker, completely lost in thought as he shoved his textbooks into his messenger bag.

"My, my, my. What's got you in such a foul mood, Mr. Baroque?"

Tidus swiveled to face the Home Economics teacher, Ms. Dona Greene. Her boyfriend was Barthello, the gym teacher.

"Ah! Hey, uh, Mrs. Greene. You kinda startled me for a sec there."

"Oh, did I? I.. apologize," she replied, taking the time to trail her long, tan finger down Tidus' arm.

"My, what fine muscles for such a young man.."

'Even though she has a boyfriend', he thought with a grimace. Just the smallest touch from her made his skin shiver in repulsion. He watched as she licked her pursed, bright pink lips and battered her eyelashes seductively.

"Listen, Ms. Greene. I, uh.." Just then, Tidus caught sight of the recognizable orange hair sticking up in the large crowd of high school students, "have to go! Yeah, I have to go or I'll be late for class! See ya," he finished and darted off.  
In four long strides, he managed to make it over to Wakka.

"Phew. Made it out of Grabby Greene's clutches again.. oh, come on!"  
Tidus groaned as Wakka and Lulu didn't even stop their current make out session in front of the ginger-haired boy's locker.

"Wakka... Stop... People have to be staring at us by now," Lulu said heavily, managing to rip her mouth away from her boyfriend's for a few second.

"Nah, Lu. I guarantee you, no one... is paying any attention to us," he whispered, trailing kisses down her pale neck.

"Um, I think everyone is paying attention to you," Tidus relayed to the duo.

Lulu shoved Wakka away in embarrassment just in time to witness everyone in the hall quickly try to hide the fact that they were, indeed staring.

Some guys even patted Wakka on the back and said a couple "you lucky dog"s to him.

"No one is paying attention, huh?" Lulu said, her cheeks flushed red. With a huff of her breath, she spun on her heel and stalked off.

"Nice going," Tidus smirked.

"I know," Wakka muttered, still a little befuddled at Lulu's reaction. He never knew her to be that kind of easily embarrassed girl. He himself didn't have any issue with a little audience.

Tidus placed a hand on his best friend's now sagging shoulders, trying his best to be comforting. "Hey, if it makes you feel any better, she was probably overreacting. So cheer up, man."

'That's kind of what he gets though' Tidus thought, shaking his head as he walked with Wakka to their next class.

The ever-charismatic Baltheir confidently made his way down the semi-crowded school hallway, winking at every young maiden who dared to direct their gaze at him. Fran walked alongside him, taking notice of all the attention she was receiving from the other young men. She could just feel their eyes on her long legs as they moved briskly along, and her perfectly rounded bottom that swished back and forth with her movements.

"I don't like this," Fran declared with an annoyed sigh.

"I didn't think you were the jealous type," Baltheir replied, turning his head to look at her after giving one more girl a blush-inducing look.

"Not you," she rolled her eyes slightly, "these boys. They stare so much more and much harder than anyone in Ivalice. I can practically feel their eyeballs touching me."

Yes, Baltheir was already well aware of the eyes on Fran– his Fran– and mostly just from the guys who were already smitten with her. From the time they entered the school and until then he had been giving dirty glares to every soul who dared to ogle her.

"Well, it's just that they're so amazed by you, Fran.." he replied, trailing off just to glare at another guy for a moment. "Don't worry about it." He smiled his charming smile up at her, causing her heart to flutter a little.

Then, on the other side of the school, two fair haired blonds were in their usual heated morning bicker, and once again it was about nothing of importance.

"..Well, if you had just walked around it, there wouldn't have been any need for me to throw my jacket on the ground just for you to cross," Vaan remarked.

"The end of the puddle was halfway across the parking lot! The courteous, gentlemanly, and chivalrous thing to do would've been to just put your stupid smelly jacket over it so I wouldn't have had to walk a mile to get around," Penelo snapped back. She had been watching a few extremely cheesy soap operas last night and ended up being so taken with the idea of having a gentlemanly boyfriend, even if the two weren't dating.

"It wasn't a mile. You're exaggerating. And if my jacket's so smelly, then you shouldn't have any use of it," Vaan retorted, rubbing his finger across his nose and looking away.

"Ugh! Vaan, you are just–"

"So infuriating, I know," he finished for her.

Penelo rolled her eyes and hiked her bag up higher on her back.

"This is my class, so I guess I'll see you at lunch," she said, gesturing to the Math classroom.

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

Penelo huffed and stomped away as Vaan turned from her, brows furrowed.

'Geez, we argue about the stupidest of things' he grumbled to himself. It's not like he enjoyed fighting with Penelo, but more than often, it was just unavoidable. They were like two cats or something.

He was rounding a corner when he realized he didn't even know where his next class was.

"Of all the things to not know–"

––––––-

The day passed by rather quickly, 5pm quickly happening upon any unsuspecting person it could get.

"Lulu, if your boobs weren't so humongous.."

"Ouch! Rikku, you said the corset would look nice by itself, but all you're doing is making my breasts bulge out."

"Exactly! Your jugs are huge!"

A light blush came to the shapely girl.

Yuna and Paine just stood off to the side, Paine looking unimpressed, and Yuna with a funny grimace on her face.

"Maybe you should just play it safe with a T-shirt," Paine put in flatly.

Lulu's face burned even more as her hands grasped the top of the corset, attempting to pull it up.

"No, no Lulu. You're fiiine!" Rikku said. "It'll make Wakka and even other guys have the hots for you!"

"Look," Paine started, coming up to Lulu's side. "Wakka's already a pretty horny guy. Do you really think you need this," she motioned to the corset, "to 'seduce' him?"

"No..."

"Then just wear what you usually would and you'll be fine."

"Wow Paine, who knew you could be so wise?" Rikku snickered.

"Look, we're wasting time!" Yuna shouted from her position beside the window. A small group of young men could be seen walking down the street, nearing the house. "The guys are practically already here."

"Okay, okay!" Lulu took off the corset and replaced it with a hot red top that was just a taaad too tight in the front.

"Better," Yuna said with a smile.

The four hurried out of the house to meet the guys just as they arrived at the front door.  
Wakka, of course, was the first to comment. "Sexy as ever, Lu," he said with a wolf whistle as he looked her up and down. Lulu did her lovely little flattered blush as always.

"Hey Gippal!" Rikku called out as they began walking down the street. "Aren't you going to compliment me, too?" She did a pose, showing off her orange crop top and black leggings- the ones she knew gave her butt a nice look.

"You look cool," Gippal replied without even really looking at her.

"Cool? And you didn't even look!"

Everyone ignored them and left them to bicker at the back of the group as they continued to walk.

Yuna and Tidus walked next to each other with Wakka and Lulu in ahead of them and Paine in the very front.

"You look especially pretty today, Yuna," Tidus said, with a handsome, eye-crinkling smile.

She gave a little laugh, her cheeks heating up a bit. She'd planned out her entire outfit and makeup in advance, having used a bunch of extra things like Rikku's Glowy Skin lotion.

"Thanks. You don't look too shabby yourself." She punched him lightly on the shoulder.

Tidus laughed too, swaying a bit at her little punch. "Gee, thanks."

Their hands knocked lightly against each other, but neither of them jerked away. Instead, it was Tidus first who hesitantly entwined his fingers with Yuna's. Then, just like that they were holding hands.

At this time, Yuna was distracted from thinking about the possibility of Tidus liking that other girl.

'His/her hand is so warm,' they both thought happily to themselves.

It wasn't much of a big deal, though they were not together. They hadn't even told one another that they liked each other.  
Sigh. With these two, it'd probably be a while.

Shiva's and Geneva's, unusually, was packed full.

It was a miracle the seven were even able to get in, but the manager of the place was on very good terms with them.

"Why's it so crowded?" Rikku shouted over the music. "It's a Tuesday!"

"I don't know, maybe something's going on?" Tidus shouted back.

They all made their way to the bar, and upon arriving there noticed that Lulu and Wakka had already slipped away together.

Gippal began ordering a drink, but Rikku managed to pull him away to the dance floor just as the song, Otherworld-her favorite rave song-started to play.

Then it was just Yuna and Tidus, with Tidus trying to see if he could spot anyone else.

"Do you see them?" he asked loudly as he turned to her.

Yuna looked around, attempting to see if she could pick out any unusual looking people. She spotted Fran-how could she not? She was so tall-and pointed her out to Tidus.

"Over there!"

The two made it over to her and saw the rest of their group at a table as they got closer.

"Hey!" Tidus called out.

Including Fran, only two others were there, with Basch currently trying to get Ashe to put a jacket on over her saucy top.

Despite his best efforts, she simply shrugged him off and was the first one to wave at Tidus.

Yuna felt a surge of jealousy, but she hid it well behind her smile.

"So how do you like S and G's so far?" Tidus asked, blushing a bit at having Ashe wave at him. He leaned on their table close to her face.

Ashe called back, "It's very loud!"

"I know, right!?" Tidus grinned.

Basch looked at him warily, though he said nothing and just watched their exchange.

"You wanna dance?!"

"Okay!" Ashe quickly agreed, wanting to hurry up and get away from Basch, who was basically her stand-in father at that point.  
Tidus stretched out his hand and helped Ashe to her feet, then lead her to the crowded dance floor.

And Yuna was left there, having been completely forgotten. She stared after the two, not only feeling hurt, but angry and jealous. 'How could he just take her and forget I even exist!?' Her face was on fire from embarrassment as she headed back to the bar. 'Did us holding hands just 20 minutes ago mean nothing?'

She ordered a raspberry sprite and sipped it in irritation. 'And what about saying I looked "especially pretty today"? What a... a... a jerk!'  
Just then, the song ended and another one came on, "Too Late to Apologize".

"I love this song!" Penelo exclaimed, tugging at Vaan's shirt. "Come on, come on!"

"What?! But I don't know how to dance!" he said, trying to resist her.

"It doesn't matter! You just go with it!"

"Okay, okay!" he quickly downed the rest of his drink-they were at the other end of the bar-and let himself be pulled off to the least crowded spot of the dance floor.

They started off fairly slowly, Vaan repeating in his head, 'Just go with the beat, go with the beat, go with the-woah!'

Penelo suddenly turned her back to him and draped her arms over his shoulders, beginning to grind against him. Her moves were rhythmic, in sync with the song's beat.

Vaan blushed wildly, wondering what the heck she was doing. But he liked it, so he didn't try to stop her. Instead, he hesitantly let his hands come around to rest lightly on her hips as she continued to grind.

'I could definitely get used to this.'

Fran stood awkwardly by the table by herself, since Basch had left to keep an eye on Ashe, and of course she'd lost Baltheir at some point.

She looked around, trying to think of what she should do now that she was alone. She was perfectly capable of fending for herself, but she usually just went with whatever Baltheir was doing. So him not being there kind of left her confused and bored.

"Hi!" came a friendly voice from behind her. Startled, she whirled around to see a dark skinned guy with bright white hair who, of course, was shorter than her. "Would you like to dance with me?"

"Um..." Fran began, not really knowing what to do. "No..no thank you," she called down to him.

"Aw, why not? It's a shame to see someone as gorgeous as you just standing here all alone."

Fran blushed, looking away at the table for a moment. She still wasn't going to dance; that would be too awkward for her. "Thank you. I will not dance, but would you like to sit with me?"

The guy looked uncertain for a second, but it was quickly replaced with a smile. "Sure!"

As soon as they sat down, he reached out a hand to her. "I'm Baralai."

Fran shook his hand, smiling all the while. She was so glad she wasn't alone with nothing to do anymore, even if it was with someone she didn't know. Clubs just really weren't her.

"Fran."

"Nice to meet you, Fran."

The two talked for a while, managing to do so easily on the not-so-loud songs until Baltheir finally reappeared, drinks in hand.  
His eyes immediately went to snowy-haired stranger, narrowing upon seeing him. He came over to the table and slammed the drinks down, saying to him, "Beat it."

"I was just keeping this fine lady here company. A better job than you were, I'm sure," the young man remarked with a smirk. He left without a fight though, throwing Fran a polite and charming smile over his shoulder.

Fran turned to Baltheir after Baralai had left, a frown on her face. She almost looked... mad at him!

"Why did you do that?" she asked piercing him with her gaze, her fist curling around the long sleeve of her lacy black jacket.

Suddenly feeling a bit nervous, Baltheir gave a dry little laugh, sliding the drink towards her. "Because he was bothering you. Here, I got you  
something to drink."

Fran looked down at the cup for a while. "I don't want it." She looked back up at him, still frowning. "You disappeared, and then you chase off the only person who came to keep me company in this," she motioned all around her, "weird, loud place."

Baltheir sighed, feeling quite guilty now. He really hadn't meant to leave her alone, but some girls caught him and then he'd had a couple shots...

"I'm sorry."

That half-assed apology wasn't even for Fran to forgive him, and so he was ignored by her for the remainder of the night.

Paine wandered around the area near the club's backrooms, bored out of her mind. Some guys had offered to buy her drinks-which she accepted- and some had asked her to dance-which she most certainly turned down. She wasn't even going to come tonight, but Rikku had just insisted.

'I don't see the point in inviting me if you're just going to run off with your little boyfriend,' came her extremely disgruntled thought.

Suddenly, she bumped into someone, whom she instantly recognized to be Baralai, the governor's kid.

"Oh! Hi Paine!" he cheerily greeted her.

She recoiled from him and took a couple steps back.

"Baralai." She really hated that sleazy, shady, two-faced governor, and no less his son.

"It's funny to see you here. I didn't think you were one for clubs." He gave her a pleasant smile; he quite liked Paine.

"I'm not." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"I see. Do you want to dance with me?"

"No," she answered bluntly.

Baralai sighed, knowing he'd probably never get her to agree. "Okay... I'd like to spend some time with you, Paine. Won't you at least have a talk with me in one of the rooms?"

Paine looked warily at the rooms back there; they were there so people could make out and do everything else in private. She didn't know how she felt about that... 'But Baralai isn't one to try anything, right? And I'm not doing anything but walking around.'

She could just leave-she would rather have been home that night, curled up on the couch with a book in only her underwear and socks anyhow.

"Only for a little while."

"Great!" Baralai grabbed her wrist to lead her to one, but she immediately and almost instinctively yanked it back.

"I...I can walk there myself."

"Okay... I know you can."

So they went into one of the rooms and closed the door, ending the brief tale of the night.

...

 **A/N: I've suddenly had a renewed passion for this story that I hope will last and gain me new readers. Thank you for reading! :)**


End file.
